A record number of female inmates are enrolled in the education program at the Alouette Correctional Centre for Women.
At the end of 2023, about 50 inmates were registered, said teacher Kevin Heinze. By the end of 2024, that number climbed to more than 110.
Heinze believes the increase is due to inmates now having a better chance of becoming high school graduates.
With more students signing up, School District 42 injected additional money into the program. That funding allowed the district to hire a new teacher.
"The overall tone is amazing," said Heinze. "They get amazing support from the staff at the women's prison. They're upbeat, they're supportive. Everybody from the warden down to the folks who are opening the doors for us at certain times, it's a positive vibe there," he said.
The new math teacher, Oshrim Bhagowat, also has an optimistic outlook.
"This program is growing. The vibe, the energy is there," he said, adding if the teacher comes to the class every day with a smile on their face, they receive the same energy back from the students. "That's what keeps the momentum moving," he said.
Heinze and Bhagowat want to graduate as many inmates as possible. However, they face unique challenges.
Before Bhagowat was hired, student-teacher time was meagre, said Heinze.
"A lot of the students would just say, 'Well, what's the sense of starting my education program when there's not a math teacher or there's not enough hours to learn math and I leave the same way I came in, without a diploma'," he explained.
Although neither educator is full time yet, they hope this renewed enthusiasm for the program will lead to more funding.
Bhagowat teaches math. Heinze handles everything else: English 12, Active Living 12, Career Life Connections 12 (career exploration, resume writing, banking), Food Studies 12, and English Foundations, a bridging course for students whose levels are too low for mainstream academics.
Bhagowat started in November 2023. He was stretched thin and often spent two extra hours every day teaching inmates on his own time.
He was hired to teach Math 11, a requirement for graduation. But the material was too difficult for about 80 per cent of the inmates because many had not studied math for 10 years or more. Some had dropped out in Grades 7 or 8. Most of the women failed miserably, said Heinze.
"The difficulty of the course, multiplied by just how little time he could spend with each student, was basically a recipe for failure," he explained.
Both teachers consulted with other jail programs across the province and realized they needed a bridging course to raise skill levels.
They revamped the program at the start of 2024 and introduced Life Foundations Math Levels 4 and 5 to prepare inmates for the Workplace 11 math graduation course. Bhagowat is pleased with the results.
Before, inmates needed a lot of help and still struggled to understand.
"Now they are feeling successful," he said.
Teaching time remains an issue. Heinze, who has been with the program for 23 years, remembers when there was one full-time teacher at the Alouette centre and two at the men’s Fraser Regional Correctional Centre.
He said the COVID-19 pandemic killed the program. Once full time, his hours were cut. Inmates stopped signing up, and funding dried up.
Continuing education is based on enrolment numbers, said Heinze. If the numbers are not there, the funding will not be there either.
This is a topic dear to School District 42 board chair Elaine Yamamoto.
She confirmed that funding for K-12 education programs in correctional centres is generated through course enrolment, following community-based adult continuing education criteria. The board does not provide extra funding from its general operating budget.
She said this approach does not align with the unique and complex realities of correctional institutions.
"The Board has been a vocal advocate for change, successfully passing motions at the provincial level in both 2020 and 2024, calling for the establishment of special-purpose funds to support year-round K-12 education in all correctional centres across British Columbia," said Yamamoto.
"Secure, stable funding for these programs is not only an investment in the future of the individuals involved, but will contribute directly to safer communities and a more equitable society," she added.
Heinze never gave up on the program. During the past year, he recruited students, and enthusiasm "spread like wildfire" throughout the prison.
Inmates themselves began recruiting others, thanks to the rapport Heinze and Bhagowat built with them.
Heinze said success depends on how long inmates stay at the institution and how hard they work.
If an inmate has strong literacy skills and decent math abilities, they can now graduate in about four months, he estimated.
On average, though, inmates remain for only six weeks. Many who do graduate are those who come back into the system and continue where they left off.
Heinze and Bhagowat hope funding will soon be restored so they have more time to teach and can increase success rates.
"We are doing a pretty darn good job with the hours that we have, but we could do a better job if we were there more frequently with the students and less time spent on administration," said Heinze.
Their goal is to give inmates hope for the future, help them succeed and become a better part of society. They also want to show that teachers are not Dickensian taskmasters but people who can help them achieve a brighter tomorrow.
"You wouldn't think it would be so positive in a jail, but we're certainly cultivating that," said Heinze.
